Rivky sat on the familiar burgundy couch with her close circle of friends from high school. It was Tzipporah’s Shabbos Kallah. Her best friend. She couldn’t believe that she and Tzipporah were actually engaged at the same time. They had always joked around that it would happen. Now that it was, she wasn’t sure it was such a good idea after all. Rivky was patiently listening to Tzipporah’s detailed description of her new apartment her parents bought for her when Ahuva piped up.
“Oh my gosh, Tzipporah, you didn’t tell us that you got your engagement ring finally! It’s stunning!”
The girls oh’ed and ahh’ed.
“And Rivky, I never saw yours either! Did you get one? How soon is your wedding again”?
Rivky blushed for a minute.
“I…I’m not getting one.”
When Rivky became engaged to Moishe, she knew what the full package was. He was a great guy, a solid learner. But his parents were divorced. His mother, who practically raised him alone, suffered for years until she eventually had a divorce. With the worst behind her, she was left with very little money. That didn’t scare Rivky. She knew that Moishe was her bashert, and his middos shined through much more than a ring or leichter ever could.
That didn’t mean it wasn’t hard sometimes.
Little did Rivky know that her mother-in-law would almost faint every night from exhaustion, trying to make ends meet. Today, with the wedding just a few weeks away, the single mother gives her exercise classes day and night, trying to come up with the funds she needs to cover the wedding expenses.
“He found a wonderful girl and I am so, so happy for him”, writes the mother of eight on her ChesedFund page. “But, I have nothing with which to pay for the wedding expenses…I give classes day and night, and collapse into bed every night from sheer exhaustion. I am crumbling under the burden.”
An emergency fund has been set up by the Vaad HaRabbanim to help this family cover the wedding expenses. Donations are graciously accepted here.
